Cleat for athletic footwear



Sept. 16 1924.

7 1,508,533 R. RICHARDS CLZAT FOR ATHLETIC FOOTWEAR Filed Feb. 7. 1921'indent-0m 075/6 H 0 racs PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN R. RICHARDS, or DALLAS, TEXAS, Assrenon or ONE-HALF '10 GEORGEoscan.

BERG, or MADISON, WISCONSIN.

CLEAT FOR ATHLETIC roorwEAn.

Application filed February 7, 1921. Serial No. 443,125.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Dallas, county of Dallas, and State of Texas, haveinvented certain-new and useful Improvements in Cleats for AthleticFootwear, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates generally to clea for athletic footwear, butrelates more particularly to cleats for attachment to shoes for use inplaying football.

In playing the game of football the tractive efiort which can be exertedby the player is of great importance and it is necessary to further thisend as much as possible. In a game where the teams are. quite evenlymatched the ability of one team to exert slightly greater tractiveeffort than the other may be the determining factor in deciding thecontest. Thus it is the practice to provide football shoes having cleatsthereon that are best adapted to the character of the field on which thegame is to be played. For a wet, muddy field cleats of conical form areprovided and for a dry field elongated cleats are usually provided.These cleats, as heretofore constructed have been built up of severallayers of leather, the cobbler or shoemaker usuallynailing thesuccessive layers as they are applied and after the building up of theseveral layers, cuts or shapes the cleat to desired form. This is a slowlaborious and tedious operation; --is one which shoemakers dislike toattend to and results in making a very expensive shoe. As the cleatsbecome worn or destroyed new ones must be applied and the same laborioustask is encbuntered. The element of time is often an important factorbecause it may be necessary to change cleats upon short notice or elseto use the shoe with a missing or inefiiciently cleated bottom.

While it is desirable to have a cleat which will be strong and durableit should be one which will not absorb moisture and become heavy andalso one to which mud will not cling or adhere. The cleat heretoforeuniversally used is defective in these respects as it both absorbsmoisture and holds to a a considerable degree mud or soil into which itprojects -and thus reduces the effectiveness of the player in severalways. As by increasing weight of the shoe, thus hindering locomotion andby providing a flatter bottom thus minimizing the tractive effort thatcan be exerted without slipping.

The general object of my invention is to provide a cleat for athleticfootwear which tions applicable to footballparaphernalia.

Other objects of my invention are to provide a cleat for athleticfootwear which can be quickly and easily manufactured at low cost andwhich shall be very durable 111'1158."

My invention consists generally in a cleat constructionwhereby the abovenamed objects, together with others that will appear hereinafter, areattainable; and my invention will be more readily understood byreference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate what I considerat the present time to be the preferred embodiment thereof.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view of the sole of a shoe, bottom side up, equipped withconical cleats, embodying my invention.

. Fi 2 is an enlarged sectional view substantially on the line 2--2 ofFi 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view 0 one of the conical cleats.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating, however, an elongatedcleat.

Fig. 5 is asectional view upon an enlarged scale taken substantiallyalong the line 5.5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the elongated cleat shown in Figs. 4 and5.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, I have there n shown my cleat construction asdesigned for use when the game is to be played upon a muddy field. Anumber of cleats are shown in Fig. 1, but inasmuch as they are or may"be all alike, a description of one will sufiice for all. The main orbody portion 1 of the cleat is conical in form being truncated, however,to provide a flat on surface 2. As here shown, the conical body portion1 is mounted ugpn a metallic base portion 3 which is slig tly larger insize than the bottom of the main part of the body portion 1; thusproviding marginal portions 4:, which, in turn, are provided with holes5 to receive the nails or fastening devices indicated by means of dottedlines in Fig. 2, and to which the reference character 6 is applied. Thebody portion 1 may be formed of material of difl'erent kinds, but ispreferably a material which is susceptible of being molded, such forexample as rubber or fibre. When fibre is used it is preferably treatedso as to be substantially non-absorbing and hence capable of retainingits original, desired characteristic of lightnessv in Weight; While thebody portion 1, which may be referrel to as a non-metallic device, maybe fastened to the metallic" base '3 in various ways, I prefer to attachor secure it by embedding therein, a stud 7 which is preferably providedwith annular projections 8 for the purpose of more securely anchoring itin place. The stud 7 is preferably a metallic stud of such constructionthat the outer end 9 thereof can be hammered or formed over the openin10 in the base plate 3, thereby firmly riveting or securing therespective parts together. The metallic base plate 3 is prefera lycurved or camber-ed so that sufficient s ace is provided for theaccommodation o the rivet portion 9 of the stud and so that it shallhave no tendency to buckle or distort the sole of the shoe.

One of the rules with respect to the game of football, as played amongstregulated bodies or organizations, provides that no metal parts of theplayers paraphernalia or equipment shall be exposed and for this reasonI prefer to cover the marginal portions of the base plate 3 by means ofa non-metallic covering. This covering may be formed in various ways,but as here shown, it is formed by providing flanged integrally formedortions 11 at the base of the member 1. oles may be provided in theflanged portion 11 for alignment with the holes 5 in the base plate 6,if desired, to accommodate the heads of the nails or other devices 6whereby thecleat, as a whole, is fastened to the sole of the shoe, butit is not thought that the rule against exposed metallic parts wouldapply as an inhibition against ex osing mere y the heads of thefastening evices in a 0 eat of the construction which l have devised.

It is not thought necessary to describe in detail the cleat shown inFigs- 4:, 5, and 6 inasmuch as the construction there shown is quitesimilar to that already described, the only diflerence being that thebase 15 is of elongated rectangular form and the body portion 13 of thecleat is also of elongated form, though still of tapering -construction.Two fastening devices 14: are provided for the purpose of securing thebody portion 13 to the base portion 12.

l have referred to the base portion as mosses a metallic member and thisis the form that it preferably takes, but it may be formed of some othermaterial which is, light in weight and yet of suflicient rigidity toreceive and distribute the pressure throughout a considerable area ofthe sole ofthe shoe as this is necessary in order that maximum ofcomfort to the wearer may result.

The many advantages of my easily attachable and detachable cleat will beapparent to thoseskilled in this art Without further comment, butinasmuch as this disclosure will suggest to others modifiedconstructions whereby the substantial objects and purposes of myinvention may be attained, ll do not Wish to be limited to the specificconstruction'herein shown and described except only as may be necessaryby limitations in the hereunto appended claims.

I claim IHA detachable cleat for athletic footwear, said cleat beingformed of a non metallic body portion and a cambered metallic base.

2. A detachable cleat for athletic footwear, said cleat being formed ofa non- .metallicbody portion and a metallic base,

said base being bf greater diameter than the bodyso as to form anextension around the same and having therein a plurality of holes toreceive fastening devices and a nonmetallic cove-ring for the extension.

A detachable cleat for athletic footwear, said cleat being formed'of anonmetallic body portion and a metallic base, said-base being of greaterdiameter than the body and having therein a plurality of holes toreceive fastening devices, and a non-metallic covering on the outer sideof the base portion extending beyond the body of the cleat. I

4. A. cleat for athletic footwear embodying therein a non-metallic bodyportion, a cambered metallic base portion, and a rivet member securingthe parts together, said rivet having a head portion contacting one sideof the metal base and having an annular flange abutting the other sidethe rivet head being disposedin the recess in the base formed by thecamber.

5. A cleat for athletic footwear, the said cleat being formed of anon-metallic body portion and a metallic base portion, said base portionbeing enlarged and camber-ed, a stud like rivet secured to the metallicbase around which the non-metallic portion is molded, said non-metallicportion being tapered downwardly from the base, the nonmetallic portionbeing provided with an annular flange for completely covering themetallic base and means for securing the cleatv in position.

In testimony whereot l have hereunto set my hand, this 29th day ofJanuary, 1921.

JOHN R. RICHARDS.

